Calculate DVC buy-in cost?

This Guy Here

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
I'm having a heck of a time figuring out:
• What it would cost to buy in to DVC in the first place, based on our needs, and
• Whether it's a smart option, money-wise.

Is there some sort of online calculator that will tell me this?

Me & my wife, no kids. We go to WDW about every 24 months, stay at the GF for 5 or 6 nights with park-hoppers. Always in the off-season. We don't want to stay in the DVC building that's hell-and-gone from the monorail station — we like to stay in one of the main buildings, close to the lobby. Is that even an option? Does it cost more points if we don't want to stay in a DVC-specific room? What if we buy GF points but want to stay at the Poly or Aulani or something? Is that a less efficient way to spend the points?

BTW, first post ever here. I've listened to the podcast forever. Me & the missus have been WDW regulars since our first trip in 1999.
 
:welcome:

I do not believe (but someone will correct me I'm sure) that you would be able to stay in cash rooms on points.

Based on your post, I'd really hesitate on buying DVC, but only you will know if it is for you. I'd recommend spending some time and doing a good deal of research on these boards.

I believe, if GFV is your desired home resort, you would need to buy resale which means you can stay at the 14 original DVC properties, but not the new ones they are adding.

And, yes, you can stay at the Poly or WL or wherever, but instead of a 11 month booking window, you will have only 7 months which, depending on when you travel and what accommodations you are looking for, may limit your availability significantly.

Have you stayed DVC before? Maybe rent points for your next trip to dip your toes in the water and decide if it is for you.
 
If you buy direct, you can stay in the non-DVC rooms, but it is not cost effective.
 
Always in the off-season.

What do you consider off-season? For DVC, the high demand season for DVC units is fall - September through marathon in January. https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-studios-1-bedrooms-june-2018-update.3689931/ is a thread that shwos historical availability for DVC units, including at VGF. We're seeing some shift in availability right now even in the other seasons; fall is just getting worse.

We don't want to stay in the DVC building that's hell-and-gone from the monorail station — we like to stay in one of the main buildings, close to the lobby.

There are no DVC units in those buildings. That said, GF is not a large resort, and I'm challenged to call the DVC building "hell-and-gone," personally. Maybe a 3 minute walk for able adults, little longer for short humans, variable for less-able adults depending on how they get around.

Does it cost more points if we don't want to stay in a DVC-specific room?
A LOT more points. Starts at 60 points per night, which is bananas. https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/points-charts/non-dvc-destinations?id=134. For similar dates, that gets you a TWO BEDROOM villa. It's not a cost-effective trade, especially since you need to buy direct to trade.

What if we buy GF points but want to stay at the Poly or Aulani or something? Is that a less efficient way to spend the points?

Using DVC points for DVC resorts is the best way to use points. That said, if you buy VGF points and want to stay elsewhere, you book at 7 months. Refer to the historical availability post - availability is by no means a slam dunk or assured at 7 months.
 


DVC is a timeshare, it’s not a discount plan on the hotel experience you would be replacing. They are very different animals with some pluses/drawbacks depending on what you look for in your Disney Resort stay.

I would recommend you keep doing what you’re doing on cash and stay where you’ve been happy for 20 years.
 
VGF is the building to the right when you go to the GF. The covered walkway goes to it. VGF has limited studios, so you would have to book one at or near 11 months. Could DVC work for you, yes it could, but you might not be as happy as paying cash for your stays and staying where you want. VGF is, as expected the most expensive WDW resort to stay at. Points cost the most, uses the most points to stay there. DVC does not have daily house keeping, but if want it you can pay extra for it.
 
Hmm, yeah, at first blush, seems like cash is the way to go. Including park hoppers and airfare (pretty expensive from where we live), we stay a week at the GF for about $5k. I'm just looking to find out if we're better off, money-wise, to go DVC. But it sounds like the limitations based on our needs makes it a no-go. Would we, over the course of the plan, spend less than $2,500/year for that same vacation via DVC? Sounds like no.
 


Plus with DVC, some of you would be sleeping on sleeper sofas or murphy beds and not real beds.
 
Do not take this as gospel and details are not exact. This is a simplified calculation:

6 nights will be 105/124 at minimum or 142/167 maximum (Excluding Premier Spring Break/Christmas) in a studio depending on view. So if you want to go every two years I would say you should buy ~80 points to be safe. I see a 75 point resale contract for $180/point or $13,500. Dues are $6.39 per point so currently $479.25 a year for 75 points. If you stayed 6 nights in Adventure it would cost $161.83/night for standard or $182.06/night for lake view [(dues per point x points required + cost of contract/years of contract)/6] and in Magic $201.23/night for standard or $227.86/night for lake.

This is exclusive of closing costs. You would have to put up $14,000+ to buy the contract. Dues will go up but so does everything at Disney and you will be paying those dues whether you go that year or not. With the extra points you still have to pay for them but you can either try to rent and lower your per night cost or just bank year to year. Renting the excess of the Adventure cost of 45 points at $14.5/point would be $652.50. If you wanted to try another resort I would think trading/renting GF points wouldn't be that difficult or you can change yourself at 7 months. No matter what you're going to be wanting to book at 11 months out.

If being in the main building is most important then you need to continue to pay cash for regular rooms. I would recommend you try renting some VGF points and seeing what it's like being in the DVC building. The cost to rent in Adventure would be about $315/night but that's assuming you can buy points at 11 months and there is availability.
 
Another thing to consider- all rooms in the main building at GF are club level rooms. Specifically, the Royal Palm Club. You will not get anything close to the club experience in a DVC villa (except those few CL villas at AKV). If that’s what you’re looking for in a Disney vacation, then DVC is definitely not for you.
 
Is there some sort of online calculator that will tell me this?

Me & my wife, no kids. We go to WDW about every 24 months, stay at the GF for 5 or 6 nights with park-hoppers. Always in the off-season. We don't want to stay in the DVC building that's hell-and-gone from the monorail station — we like to stay in one of the main buildings, close to the lobby. Is that even an option? Does it cost more points if we don't want to stay in a DVC-specific room? What if we buy GF points but want to stay at the Poly or Aulani or something? Is that a less efficient way to spend the points?
No real online calculators, but some of the genius members here have developed spreadsheets which can estimate your cost of ownership over the life of the contract.

Some simple pen and paper math can help to figure out if buying into DVC makes sense for you. Using the contract to go every other year can make sense and essentially you could buy a smaller contract and bank/borrow points to cover your trip. The previous poster already went over the points needed - with the max points needed being about 167 - you would want to buy a contract around 90-100 points. having a little extra cushion of points ensures you will have enough points for the room you want if there is ever a points reallocation.

The math comes in when you start off with your initial buy in of 100 points @ $150 per point (on the resale market) = $15,000. The bigger cost of ownership is the yearly maintenance fees. For 2019 VGF MF are $6.385 per point = $638.50 for your 100 point contract. Excluding the buy in price I am sure that the cash rate for a studio for 5-6 nights would be much more than $638. The MF increase yearly- to simply the math you could say it increases 3% every year. So in 2020 your MF would be $657. One way people factor in the initial contract price is to divide the buy in by the years remaining on the contract. VGF expires in 2064 = so divide your $15,000 initial purchase by 45 years left = $333.33 per year. Add that to your MF cost and a rough estimate is that one year of ownership would cost $333.33 + $638 = $971 for 2019 points. You will be using almost 2 years of points to book a room so with that now the "cost" for the room would be closer to $1950 - The question is -- do you pay more than this for a room at the GF? If so then buying in can make sense. The other option would be to just rent points -- it saves you that you are not locked into DVC and it usually saves you $$ compared to Disney rates.

When factoring in the cost of ownership it can turn into a huge debate because there will be a set of people who will factor in the potential loss of earning potential of the money used to buy into DVC. My thought is I am going to vacation and it is part of our budget and that money would never be put into an investment. So essentially not a factor for me.

It doesn't sound like you really care for the DVC rooms/location at VGF. So as for where to buy -- you buy where you want to stay, so if you don't want to stay in the DVC rooms at VGF but you do want to stay at poly -- then buy at poly. If you want to buy "cheap" points to use for staying at a variety of resorts then you buy SSR.
 
It doesn't sound like you really care for the DVC rooms/location at VGF. So as for where to buy -- you buy where you want to stay, so if you don't want to stay in the DVC rooms at VGF but you do want to stay at poly -- then buy at poly. If you want to buy "cheap" points to use for staying at a variety of resorts then you buy SSR.

But only buy at poly if they want to stay in the Dvc rooms. Otherwise they are back to that horrid per night rate.
 
Can someone point me in the direction of a calculator that people have developed in the past? I would like to compare it with the one I created that helped me conclude it to be a no brainer closing on a recent resale contract (both short term savings, and lifetime if possible.)
 

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